


The Sound of Silence

by FlamboyantProblematic



Category: Quantum Break (Video Game)
Genre: But it does sound pretty sad, I was just practicing my writing, M/M, One day i'll write something that's not subtle fluff, This isnt really angst, What better way to practice than write about my favorite sad booooys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:34:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlamboyantProblematic/pseuds/FlamboyantProblematic
Summary: I wrote this basically as practice. I wanted to write something that used no dialog at all and mainly focused on description so... have the result





	The Sound of Silence

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to say that I'm pretty surprised by the amount of reads I get on my stories because I didn't expect people to actually bother? Mainly because I just didn't think people would be interested in this ship. I met like one other person who ships it but I guess the fandom is full of surprises. I'm glad this ship is getting some attention cuz it's great but it's mainly unexplored and full of subtext. Someone who just glosses over things won't understand why this ship is great but those who read between the lines kind of see it, I suppose. Anyway, I can try to explain or I can let you read what you clicked on so I'm going with the latter. Enjoy

The roads were a blur as the car passed by. Street lights and other vehicles fading in and out of view as young Paul Serene drove down the road he's memorized from passing way too many times. He knew every shortcut and every entrance, the fastest and easiest ways to get to the Joyce family farm. The drive was silent, he had muted his phone as he usually did when he went to visit the eldest living Joyce, he didn't want to be bothered by work while he spent his day there. 

With the car parked, the sound of silence was now replaced with nature. Wind playing with the trees, dancing with the leaves. The grass under his feet, yellowing from lack of care. Jack mostly looked after the house, with him gone the plants prayed for rain. When Paul had time, he would sometimes take care of the grass and the greenhouse himself, if he was lucky William Joyce would help.

Upon arriving at the door, Paul knocked though he had the keys, he just didn't want to alarm Will by entering the house unannounced. This became a routine, Paul woke up, made breakfast and left some for Will, went to work, came home, spent some time with Will before making lunch, cleaned the house and made sure everything was alright and that the fridge was stocked, made sure Will wasn't doing anything dangerous, cooked dinner, stayed up till he was certain Will was asleep then headed to bed... repeat. It wasn't easy looking after Will. Otherwise Jack wouldn't have left... but Paul managed. 

The wooden door seemed to give in under the touch of the young Serene. It creaked and threatened to come off its henges. Jesus Christ, Paul should get someone to look into it and maybe repaint the house or something, it was starting to look like a horror attraction.

It took some time for Will to answer the door, as he usually did but then he stood there, blocking the way inside with his short figure. Even at this age, Paul towered over the older man just a tad despite there being a fair age gap between them. Will's blue eyes were ill with heavy thoughts that gave the physicist away. He was tired, but he was never not tired to begin with. Sleep doesn't seem to be helping, nor food, nor walks out. This wasn't something that healed by having one good day. His hair hadn't met a comb in days and he was still in the same clothes he had on when he went to bed last night. 

With unspoken greetings, Will stepped aside and let Paul in, closing the door when the businessman walked inside and locked it. Will was paranoid, Paul didn't know why but didn't question it. He doubted that he would be able to understand anyway. The way Will's mind worked... it was like a labyrinth. A maze within a maze and lots of deadends. He assumed many monsters lurked there as well, otherwise Will would have been able to sleep at night. 

He neatly placed his suitcase on one of the chairs and headed up to Jack's room to change. The stairs, just like the door, creaked and wept under Paul's weight. The pictures on the walls that decorated the way up the stairs were dusty and old, browning with age. Some of them were of Jack, just a child, a small child... before all the anger, before the mess. There was a family picture, the Joyces, happy, peaceful. There was a picture of Will with a trophy as big as he was, he didn't seem happy. Trophies and awards were materialistic, Will didn't give a shit about them, even as a child so young, his brain was ten times his size.  It was a wonder all that knowledge fit into such a small body. There were pictures of the Serenes and the Joyces. A kid that looked so much like Paul smiled at him through the picture frame, Paul had forgotten happy days like these, mostly because the pictures lost their colors, and dead people... ghosts were in these images. The Joyce parents were no longer here and Paul was surprised the Joyce brothers haven't flipped these pictures towards the wall. This house was all they had now... 

Paul opened the door to Jack's room. Posters covered the four walls, a stereo with an empty case next to it where Jack had his CDs. An old PC sat on the table. A pair of shoes with Paul's name was dusting in the corner, too small to fit his feet now. He had the same exact shoes except they had Jack's name on them. A thing they did when they were kids, they'd draw on each other's shoes and write their names on their masterpieces. A clothing cabinet stood strong in one corner of the room. Paul swung the doors open and it didn't take long for him to find something of his under the pile of Jack's clothes. Jack's scent lingered faintly on the pieces of fabric, they made Paul feel calm and hopeful. Jack would decide to come home soon... some day. 

He changed from his work attire to a more comfortable one... then he left the room and headed back downstairs where Will was staring blankly at static on the TV. He sat on a worn out sofa, poor thing had seen better days. When Paul passed by, Will didn't even blink. He headed over to the TV and tried to find the remote but it was no where to be found. In the silence he could clearly hear the sound of the VHS player working. He clicked eject and a black VHS tape was spat out. There was a label on it but he couldn't read what it said, whatever was written on it was erased by someone who desperately wanted to delete the memory of it. He pushed the tape back in and rewinded it... then play.

The static transitioned to a black screen for a while, giving Paul time to take a seat next to the zoned out Joyce. 

Images began giving the dark screen color. Jack's birthday, Paul remembered this even though he was so young at the time. It was the first birthday he shared with the Joyces. He had gotten Jack a toy car, one of those that were big enough for him to drive around. He played with it all day long outside... Paul would have smiled at the memory if Jack were here... would have teased him about it and watched the younger Joyce brother cringe at his younger self.

There was no sound, something about that made the memories more eerie than joyful. There was just static buzzing in the background. Just static. 

The video cut off, the screen was black again and then it was alive. Mama and papa Joyce, happy as they hugged Will, and that same trophy from the picture earlier was in his hands. They looked so proud... 

Paul looked at Will from the corner of his eyes and the ill genius was just... staring, he blinked occasionally but it seemed like it took him forever to do so. What once was must have been hard to watch but when Paul attempted to turn it off, Will stopped him, desperately clinging onto his sleeve, fingers digging into the fabric but not pulling back. Paul sat back down and instead he leaned close to Will, very carefully reaching for his hand, taking the cold fingers in his, intertwining them. The palms of their hands kissed. It was comforting that Will made no attempt to pull away. 

There was Jack and Will, doing nothing of great importance. The two were just being brothers, talking, Will teaching Jack words too big for his age and his parents laughed as Jack failed miserably at pronouncing them. But again, they were there... being proud. Jack's father ruffled his younger son's hair to make him feel better. 

Will squeezed on Paul's hand, the younger man was caught by the action and looked at Will who was now crying silently, eyelashes wet with tears, cheeks red with sorrow. But his mouth was sewed shut, no sound came out. Paul felt the tears threatening to escape his own eyes but hid them in Will's shoulder as he pulled the other into a hushed embrace. Will was not responsive but Paul didn't let go, didn't until he was sure he could collect himself. 

They turned off the TV after that. Paul made lunch, or at least attempted. Will didn't complain. They just ate then did the dishes, Will washing and Paul drying. Paul felt too tired to clean the house afterwards so he let Will do some work on... whatever it was that was important to him in the barn. So important it drove Jack away...

He, meanwhile, checked his emails to see if he got anything from his best friend but there only spiderweb and flies (not counting work emails) Jack often emailed back unless he was drunk and wasted. They promised not to drunk text one another anymore because boy do they say some stuff!

The clock ticked... and ticked... and ticked... filling the sound of silence, not that Paul heard it. He was too focused on the screen in front of him. He only noticed how late it was once the sun left the sky and the room had gotten too dark. Will hadn't come back in so Paul was left to turn on the lights. He closed his laptop and went outside to check on the older Joyce, tapping on the barn's large doors. Will poked his head out, looking at the darkened sky and then at Paul in a soundless agreement. It was time to come home. Will disappeared back into the barn for a while then came out, locking the doors as he exited. Paul didn't get a chance to take a look inside, something he attempted to do every single day.

They went back into the house. Will showered, Paul made dinner and kept the bottle of pills next to Will's plate so he wouldn't forget to take his meds. 

Will grabbed a book to read, Paul rested his head on the physicist's legs and played games on his phone. These were unmemorable moments that wouldn't mean a thing a week from now but Paul was thankful for them. They might not be happy but at least they were alive and well... as well as Will can be anyway. 

And they tried... tried to mend themselves in these little moments. Paul put his phone on his chest and reached up with his now empty hands, his fingers now wet from Will's still damp hair. The younger man smiled, Will didn't even pay attention. Something so beautiful glistened in those busy tired eyes, something behind the broken soul and the fucked up mind. It was what gave Paul patience and made him come back every day. His admiration for the little pieces, the fragments that made Will himself. Not that Will would ever notice his love, but Paul didn't mind... as long as he can be here, as long as he was still part of the Joyces' memories. 

He covered Will's eyes and watched as Will's lips twitched in irritation, and when the palms of his hands finally allowed vision, Will was looking at him, not angry or anything. He was just looking at Paul the way he looked at anything else in the world, not in the special way he looked at his work... the glint of pride and joy in his eyes then didn't exist now. He looked at Paul with shattered worlds in a dying blue sea. A single lighthouse stood strong in the storm. Their chests found a rhythm. The storm subsided as blue skies invaded and their gazes danced. In a moment there were words scattered all around, things they didn't need to say, yet they understood. 

It was going to be okay. 

They were okay.

They found their comfort for the night and fell asleep to the sound of heartbeats.


End file.
